Southern Illinois University Edwardsville's Board of Trustees has approved a $3 million contract for a new electrical system, and Phase II of the project has taken effect.
The student newspaper The Alestle reported that the campus had experienced unplanned power outages due to failing components in the old electrical system over the past few years.
According to The Telegraph, the board approved a contract worth $3,501,490 to Guarantee Electrical Co., of Granite City, to complete replacement and repairs to the electric distribution system at SIUE. This is phase two of an $11-million plan that was approved during 2013.
The project will improve SIUE’s electrical system’s reliability, operations and capacity to support the campus. The facilities fee funds the project.
Facilities management director Paul Fuligni said the old system had not been replaced since the university was built in the late 1950s. “There will be the replacement of all the major components, underground electrical cables, transformers, electrical switches and we are also adding additional circuits as well as more flexibility,” Fuligni told The Alestle.
